Chapter 495 Maritime Transport Industry
In mid-March of the 3284th year of the Dawn Calendar, it was the spring ploughing season in the Kingdom of Harland. The steam merchant ship, which had been drifting on the sea for more than a month, hurried to the Starlight Castle.
In mid-March, the harbor outside the Starlight Castle had already thawed, but the middle and upper reaches of the Black River were still frozen and would not be navigable until early April.
If you want to take a boat to the Black River Fort, you need to wait at least more than 20 days.
However, now the Star-Pa Railway in the Kingdom of Harland has been opened to traffic. If you take a train from the Starlight Castle to the Black River Fort, it will take at most one and a half days.
With Richard's strong support, the Starlight Castle has developed very rapidly. In just a few years, the total population of the East Coast Province has increased to 1.4 million.
Starlight Castle is the capital of the East Coast Province and the focus of development. After the major heavy industrial factories were put into production, the population increased by another 50,000 to 60,000. Now the total population of the Starlight Castle has approached 200,000.
Although Xinghui Port freezes for 40 days a year and the Black River is only navigable for half a year, the location conditions for developing maritime trade are not favorable, far inferior to Soya Castle in Rex Province. However, driven by the powerful engine of the Kingdom of Harland, Xinghui Castle is still the largest seaport city in the Kingdom of Harland.
In just a few years, Xinghui Castle has established a large number of heavy industries such as shipbuilding plants, machinery processing plants, locomotive manufacturing plants, and steel plants. In a few years, the craftsmen and technicians transferred from Fort William and Black River Fort areas have added up to more than two thousand.
After the merchant ship entered the port, it immediately came to the ship repair shop.
This steamship has been drifting on the sea for several months, the mast has been broken, and the hull has been damaged. In such a bad condition, it can still insist on returning. The luck of this ship can be said to be extraordinary.
Although the magic ship continues to clean up and hunt monsters in coastal areas, there are countless monsters in the ocean. This time, this steamship encountered a fifth-level thorn shark, and a hole was punched in the side of the ship, and the mast was also broken. If the magic crystal cannon had not been installed on the ship to scare away the thorn shark, the merchant ship would have been in danger of sinking on the spot.
Due to the threats of marine monsters and fishman tribes, the oceans of this world are far more dangerous than Richard's previous life.
A steamship equipped with six magic crystal cannons is still very vulnerable when sailing alone in the near sea. Large magic ships can only feel a little safe in the ocean.
The difficulty of ocean voyages has increased the difficulty of marine trade, and it is very difficult for port cities to communicate. Therefore, the economic development speed of coastal areas is very average.
If it were not for the fact that the two territories of the Kingdom of Harland in the north and south are more than 2,000 kilometers away, and there is a Kingdom of Grant in between, there is a need to develop marine trade, Richard would not have vigorously developed the shipping industry.
Today, there are more than 100 steamships registered in the Kingdom of Harland alone, and even a small number of private shipping bosses have appeared.
Ziggs from the Rex Province is a private shipping boss. He was originally a naval officer on the East Coast. After the defeat of the East Coast, he led his soldiers to hand over the magic ship, surrendered and was incorporated into the Harland Kingdom Navy, serving for three and a half years.
Ziggs himself was a hereditary nobleman, and lost his title due to the defeat of the East Coast. Because the navy accumulated merits too slowly and did not make much money, Ziggs decided to go out on his own to see if he could find an opportunity to turn things around and make a lot of money.
Three months ago, Ziggs retired from the navy and decided to buy a steamship to enter the shipping industry.
Due to insufficient funds, Ziggs only bought an old ship from the Navy Logistics and Transportation Bureau. Unexpectedly, he encountered trouble on the second voyage.
Ziggs sailed to the Kingdom of Parame to open up the market. When returning to Silver Moon Island, he was attacked by a thorn shark and almost sank in the northern waters of Silver Moon Island.
After returning to Xinghui Port fortunately, Ziggs arranged for people to repair the ship while preparing to return to Fort William to see if he could recruit a mid-level magician. If there is a mid-level magician stationed on the ship for protection, a lot of problems can be solved. At least the fifth-level thorn shark encountered this time cannot break the side of the ship.
Compared with magicians who adapt to various battlefield environments, the adaptability of warriors and knights is far different.
Ziggs himself is a sixth-level knight, but unfortunately he is not good at water battles and cannot exert his strength on the ocean. The magic crossbow in his hand did not hit the thorn shark at the first time, and was played by the thorn shark and easily broke the side of the ship.
If it were not for the magic crystal cannon to scare away the thorn shark, all the people on the boat would be fed to fish and turtles.
Although Ziggs knew that inviting a mid-level magician was extremely difficult and almost wishful thinking, he still wanted to try it.
As of March this year, the Harland Mage Association has 2,100 formal members, and the number of magic apprentices has increased to 20,000.
It is worth mentioning that Richard's eldest daughter Margaret successfully promoted to the seventh ring in January this year.
At the age of 27, Margaret's talent and luck can be seen when she was promoted to the seventh environment.
Compared with magicians of the same level, Margaret has drunk the Water of Life, the legendary Styx Potion, her mental strength exceeds 40 points, and she has a set of high-level magic props, and her combat power is stronger than that of ordinary nine-ring magicians.
The number of magicians in the Kingdom of Harland has exceeded that of the East Coast before the country was destroyed.
In January this year, the army of the Kingdom of Harland was reorganized again. This time, Richard imitated the ace legion of the Holy Glorious Empire and incorporated a 300-man magician group into one legion.
However, the quality of the mage group in the Kingdom of Harland is slightly inferior, with only one hundred mages and two hundred mage apprentices. Mage apprentices only need to rely on magic arrays and energy projection weapons to fight. Compared to the ace legion of the Holy Radiance Empire, its ability to interfere on the battlefield is somewhat inferior.
Although the number of magicians in the Kingdom of Harland has increased to 2,000, there are only less than 300 members of intermediate-level magicians and above.
Most of these mid-level magicians serve in official departments, such as the army, intelligence system, civil inspection system, magic academy, and magic research institute. It is difficult for them to give up their luxurious life and stay on a boring ship for a long time.
Although he didn't have much hope in his heart, Giggs still came to Fort William and began to contact the target candidates.
The vast majority of mid-level magicians have signed service contracts with the Kingdom of Harland, so there are only a few candidates that Ziggs can choose. These people are all veterans of the Mage Association and have been members of the Mage Association for at least fifteen years. They have a comfortable life and good treatment, and it is impossible for them to agree to Giggs' conditions.
As soon as Giggs opened his mouth, he was rejected unceremoniously.
Over the next month or so, Giggs visited more than thirty candidates. Even if he hits a wall at every turn, he still cheers up and continues to visit the next candidate.
It wasn't until he met Heath that he considered agreeing to his conditions.
Heath has been a member of the Harland Mage Association for twenty-five years. He is considered a veteran of the Mage Association and was originally a member of the Tower of Death. He is now sixty-seven years old, and his professional level has been promoted to level five.
Heath's magical talent is average and he has basically been unable to advance in this life. He has served the Kingdom of Harland for twenty-five years and does have plans to retire.
After receiving Giggs' invitation, Histon was immediately touched and wanted to go to sea and have a look.
Heath's life was very simple. He was born into a serf family when he was young. He was kidnapped into the Tower of Death at the age of twenty-two, and was promoted to the second ring at the age of forty. My life for the past forty years did not leave a narrow confinement, as if I was in a prison.
If he hadn't been lucky enough to join the Harland leader and receive guidance from highly qualified magicians such as Richard and Sophia, he would never have been able to advance to the mid-level with his talent.
In the early years, Heath studied the Book of Death. Because there was no one to guide him and the conditions were harsh, his body was eroded by negative energy magic particles, and he almost died in Harland Hospital.
After joining the Harland Territory, Richard personally wrote the Book of Meditation Curse for them and stopped their dangerous mission. Only then did Heath gain true freedom.
For the next twenty years, Heath spent most of his time in the hospital, and occasionally signed up to fight on the front lines. He learned many healing spells and devoted himself to serving in Harland.
After joining the Harland Territory, Heath also started a family in the territory and married a twenty-eight-year-old widow.
Heath's income was very high, and he later served as the director of a hospital and was proficient in various healing spells. For more than twenty years, he has had a wife and two lovers in Harland, and has given birth to seventeen children, two of whom have magical talents.
Over the years, Heath has created a sizable family in Harland.
Now the older children have married and started a business, and the two children with magical talents do not need to be taken care of. For the remaining young children, Heath has also left them a generous property, enough for them to have enough food and clothing for a lifetime.
Heath no longer needed to worry about family matters.
After careful consideration for a period of time, Heath still wanted to see distant places. He could not refuse his inner desire and finally agreed to Giggs' invitation.
Of course, Heath, a veteran of the Harland Mage Association, needs to sign a confidentiality agreement before leaving the territory. All the knowledge learned from the Harland Mage Association and the papers he has read cannot be leaked.
After making all preparations, Heath and Ziggs returned to Starlight Castle together. At this time, most of Ziggs's steamboat had been repaired. The mast and sails have been repaired, and the ship's planks are still being replaced.
After Heath inspected the steamer, he decided to negotiate terms with Giggs.
After finding Giggs, Heath went straight to the point: "What conditions are you going to give me?"
"How about a salary of three hundred gold coins a year?"
With a professional level like Hiss, serving the Kingdom of Harland, his monthly salary is as high as twelve gold coins, and there are various subsidies for a year. In addition, meritorious service will be awarded for killing enemies, and some battle mages are not far away from being knighted.
Mages who can engage in scientific research are valued more by the territory, and their remuneration is much higher than that of battle mages. For example, the famous magic mechanic Bonova has now been successfully knighted, and his own wealth has exceeded 100,000 gold coins, and he can compete with capitalist nobles.
A salary of three hundred gold coins a year, and having to face unknown risks, are not attractive to a five-ring magician.
Even if the salary is 500 gold coins a year, it will only be 50,000 after working for a hundred years.
An investment of fifty thousand gold coins cannot be exchanged for a hereditary baron.
Now if you want to be granted a title in the northern region of Pulilan, if you don't have a capable armed force, you have to invest at least 120,000 to 30,000 gold coins.
When the undead on the northern ice sheet are wiped out, there may not be a policy of exchanging gold coins for meritorious deeds. By then, no matter how rich you are, you will not be able to jump in class.
Seeing that Heath looked at him as if he were a fool, Giggs spread his hands and said: "Dear Mr. Heath, of course I know that this treatment is worse.
But our business has just started, so I can't offer you a big price. But I can agree to give you 20% of the shares. "
After hearing the conditions given by Giggs, Heath immediately refused.
"Twenty percent is too little, I want fifty percent."
When Giggs heard that Heath wanted half of the shares, he immediately declined: "Dear Mr. Heath, half of the shares is too much. You have to know that in order to buy this ship, I invested up to 12,000 gold coins. In addition, I also It employs more than a hundred crew members, including four retired artillery sergeants and one artillery officer. The cost of hiring these people is more than 4,000 gold coins a year. If you want half of the shares, please invest resources in this ship."
"Since I dare to ask for half of the shares, of course I will bring changes to this ship." Heath took out a magic core from the space bag on his waist and said very confidently: "This is a sixth-order Galax fish Human magic core, with this magic core as the core, we can transform this steamship into a magic ship.
Let me talk about my suggestions for modification. First, steel plates need to be installed on the bottom of the ship. Secondly, using the Galath murloc magic core as the energy core, a protective force field magic array is drawn on the side of the ship, and ice blade magic is drawn on the steel plate on the bottom of the ship to strengthen the ship's defense. Finally, a magic speargun is added. If I encounter danger, I will personally go into the water to fight.
In addition to this sixth-level magic core, I can also provide two thousand gold coins as funds for ship modification.
I think what I paid is enough to get half of the shares. "
Seeing the magic core in Heath's hand, Giggs couldn't open his eyes. Although this magic core was only level six, its price on the market was as high as four to five thousand gold coins.
The most troublesome thing is that things like magic cores have a price but no market. It takes opportunity and time to buy one. What's more, even if you get the magic core, it is still very difficult to modify the magic ship, because the magic shipyard does not accept orders from new people.
"Dear Mr. Heath, can you modify the magic ship by yourself?"
Heath nodded and said: "Of course, our ship has steam power and does not need to use magic power. The structure of the magic energy core has been simplified a lot and is not too difficult. Using one magic core as the energy source to drive two magic arrays, As long as you learn magic inscriptions, it's easy to do it.
Of course, this kind of magic ship is disposable. After the energy of the magic core is consumed, it must be dismantled and replaced. "
Although it was a one-time magic ship, Ziggs was still very happy when he heard it. Because there is a protective array on the ship, it can protect the safety of the crew. Seeing that Heath took out a sixth-level magic core, Giggs readily agreed to the 50-50 condition.